Microsoft is removing the ability to easily install Windows 11 with a local account

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Facepalm: Microsoft has long offered several "tricks" to customize the Windows setup process. Users especially value their ability to skip signing in with an online Microsoft account, much to the company's chagrin. Soon, those easy workarounds will no longer be available.

Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 preview build for beta testers in the Insider program. Build 26220.6772 (KB5065797) introduces several changes that will gradually roll out to the stable version of the OS – but one so-called "improvement" is likely to frustrate many customers, power users, and system administrators.

The new build modifies the Windows Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) by removing known methods for creating local user accounts. Microsoft said these methods were "often" used to bypass the requirement to sign in with a Microsoft account during installation. The company justified the change by citing failures in the OOBE process that left some devices only partially configured. Microsoft now requires users to complete OOBE with an internet connection and a Microsoft account to ensure proper device setup.

Microsoft tried to sweeten the hard-to-swallow pill by providing a new OOBE trick that lets Windows 11 place the online user account in a customized folder. Otherwise, the OS will still generate a proper profile folder name from the user's Microsoft email address.

Microsoft has long pushed customers to use an online account on Windows and is now actively closing pre-existing loopholes that allowed users to set up local accounts. The company did not provide specific details about which bypass methods it plans to remove from the Windows 11 OOBE or whether any of these loopholes will remain in future Windows releases.

For now, users and administrators are waiting to access the preview build so they can test the scope of these new limitations. The Microsoft account bypass tricks have long offered a quick way to set up a local account during OOBE. However, they represent just one mechanism among many setup customization options that Redmond has supported throughout Windows' history.

Resourceful users still have plenty of ways to "go local" and avoid a Microsoft account even after build 26220.6772. These methods include unattended setup images, third-party tools such as Rufus and Ventoy. Microsoft may face more dissatisfaction from power users, but those determined to avoid using an online account during Windows installation will likely continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

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Microsoft is removing the ability to easily install Windows 11 with a local account

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The company doesnt care. Windows 10 is going out, you WILL use 11, and you WILL like it.

 

[dualkelly]

The company doesnt care. Windows 10 is going out, you WILL use 11, and you WILL like it.

windows 10 wont magically just die. its insane that people and article after article keep pretending like windows 10 will just die on same date. Most people will use windows 10 until their computer dies and they have to buy a new one.

 

[yRaz]

windows 10 wont magically just die. its insane that people and article after article keep pretending like windows 10 will just die on same date. Most people will use windows 10 until their computer dies and they have to buy a new one.

Most people are going to use windows 10 without security updates and it's going to cause tons of people to get hacked and lose data, money and even have their identity stolen.

 

[Lowhangingfruit]

This is not that big a deal. Just create a throwaway outlook account. I have like 4 of them. Right next my throwaway google accounts, and apple accounts.

 

[Geralt]

If they continue to push me and push me, I will go the pirate way. No other way to deal with a crappy company like Microsoft. Evil minds there.

 

[TheDreams]

Currently I use this because my purchasing department doesn't know how to buy with a pro license already installed. Hopefully that won't be going away
1. Shift-F10
2. start ms-cxh:localonly

 

[Underdog]

Most people are going to use windows 10 without security updates and it's going to cause tons of people to get hacked and lose data, money and even have their identity stolen.

"Tons of people" are still using Windows 7 and don't suffer these problems. This is largely Micro$oft propaganda but we don't all have to believe it.

 

[Anton Longshot]

windows 10 wont magically just die. its insane that people and article after article keep pretending like windows 10 will just die on same date. Most people will use windows 10 until their computer dies and they have to buy a new one.

Exactly.
I would like to add there are several easy-ish ways to keep receiving updates but to my amazement many people are (and stay!) unaware of this.

 

[MasterAce]

Time to beat the Linux drum

Bazzite all summer, not going back. Linux is so capable these days. I have native shotcut, blender and even UE5 runs native. For the mandatory work stuff I run the browser MS office and remote desktop to my work laptop. All my games work via steam/proton, wine and so forth.

There’s no nagging, hidden adds or adobe traps. No account required.

 

[Kirby1]

This will make computer repair much more difficult, as repair techs will either need the customers Microsoft credentials or the setup will be incomplete.

Techs may be forced to install windows 10 with a local account and then upgrade to 11 from there to be able to complete a windows setup. Or techs can use a temporary account to finish the setup, then remove the account and switch to a local account after installation is completed.


It's just such a bad idea to force online logins when the OS still fails to pick up a lot of drivers automatically, meaning the setup can't be completed without going into the OS after it's fully installed.

 

[dualkelly]

Most people are going to use windows 10 without security updates and it's going to cause tons of people to get hacked and lose data, money and even have their identity stolen.

hogwash and hysteria. every time windows updates itself it causes another security hole. common sense while browsing will serve you better than updates. I still have a xp machine it works fine never been hacked or have had my data stolen. also you seem to forget the real targets are not single individuals its vast data stores. your data already was stolen though the irs hack.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

hogwash and hysteria. every time windows updates itself it causes another security hole. common sense while browsing will serve you better than updates. I still have a xp machine it works fine never been hacked or have had my data stolen. also you seem to forget the real targets are not single individuals its vast data stores. your data already was stolen though the irs hack.

This entire post is pure misinformation and ignorance. People like you are why botnets running on unsecured older windows versions are still a problem.

windows 10 wont magically just die. its insane that people and article after article keep pretending like windows 10 will just die on same date. Most people will use windows 10 until their computer dies and they have to buy a new one.

I never said 10 will just die. It's insane that people take one statement and run with it right into a brick wall.

Windows 11 is the future. When you buy new PCs, they will not be compatible with 10. Things will start breaking. Just like every past windows OS. If you want to use Windows moving forward, you WILL have to use 11 eventually, and you WILL have to use a Microsoft account to do so. Browsers will eventually drop windows 10 support, without updated SSL certificates websites will break, and your machine will be rendered unusable.

Everyone who coped before about how "MS accounts are not mandatory" are now coping that "there are still ways around this". By the time they finally give up 10 (which was satan when it came out but everyone forgets that now) there will be no more local accounts on 11.

Currently I use this because my purchasing department doesn't know how to buy with a pro license already installed. Hopefully that won't be going away
1. Shift-F10
2. start ms-cxh:localonly

What you posted is what is getting patched out, as stated in the article. Tell your purchasing department to pull their heads out of their arse.

 

[pnntmp]

Anyone willing to spend 10 minutes researching can easily install Win11 without a Microsoft account.
You can also install 11 the 'normal' way, then create a local account and delete the initial account used for installation.
Another way is just upgrade from Win 10 (without a Microsoft account) to 11, and it remains without a Microsoft account.

I really don't understand why this topic resurfaces every now and then. If you don't want a Microsoft account, you can have your Windows 11 without it.
I think Microsoft understands that there is a limit of annoyance and intrusion they should not cross, otherwise users will just dump Win 11. They may try to push that limit a bit further, but not too much.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

The company doesnt care. Windows 10 is going out, you WILL use 11, and you WILL like it.

Still using Windows 10 20H2 here, everything runs and works as expected. Yes, I play DOOM The Dark Ages, in QHD. The hardware is decent, opsec is essential. I killed Windows Update, as I have always done since XP. I have had a "Microsoft account" since the Hotmail days, and I will NEVER tether it to my PC(s).

I'm forced to use Windows 11 at least once per week, on some organization's computer. It's a f****** abomination of an OS. Even worse than Windows 8 in my book. I'll need a couple months just to make it usable, somehow.

Anyway, I will f****** upgrade when I f****** decide it. I don't care either :-D

 

[brunocasarini]

I just installed Windows 11 on a client's machine using the 25H2 ISO and the OOBE\BYPASSNRO trick worked. Backup those ISOs, guys. You will need them.

 

[opckieran]

The company doesnt care. Windows 10 is going out, you WILL use 11, and you WILL like it.

I’ll stick with Manjaro.

 

[Tech420]

I'm just going to skip Windows 11 and wait till Windows 12 since every 'other' windows release is good.

For people who are worried about security updates, windows comes with Windows Defender which is really good.

If you do it right, you can install several other security suites in parallel. The more, the better because a virus will have to get past multiple layers of antivirus, firewalls, and registry cleaners to get through

 

[DrSuess]

I wonder how this will work? We have hundreds of rooms across our company where we have computers that never touch the internet (air gapped networks). We typically install Windows Enterprise so I hope this only applies to retail versions of Windows (it shouldn't even apply to Win Pro either).

 

[wiak]

There is always a EU directive for these kinds of shenanigans, cough dma cough

 

[highwind]

Typical Click-Bait / Fake News article

Replace every instance of „Windows 11“ with „Windows 11 Home Edition“ in the article, because non of what was writen is true for Pro Editions and above

 

[penn919]

I wonder how this will work? We have hundreds of rooms across our company where we have computers that never touch the internet (air gapped networks). We typically install Windows Enterprise so I hope this only applies to retail versions of Windows (it shouldn't even apply to Win Pro either).

They'll be solutions for Enterprise. It's the Home users that'll be impacted the most.

 

[p51d007]

DUH! MS wants you to have an account so they can PUSH their garbage either to your computer, or through spam emails.

 

[yannus]

I’ll stick with Manjaro.

I'll stick with MX but Manjaro is cool too. The good news of all these bad news about windoze is that even Gamernexus or Pewdiepie are talking about Linux and hating windoze. It seems to me it's gonna be impossible to stop.

 

[Axiarus]

Rufus will prolly still allow you to get around this. I get around this by bypassing Microsoft completely and running CachyOS.